Over 10,000 athletes to participate in Asian Games

More than 14,000 athletes and officials from 45 countries have registered to take part in the Asian Games in Guangzhou in November, a games official says.

“We have received event entry forms from 45 countries and regions, including 10,156 for athletes and 4,202 team officials,” Asian Games external relations chief Sun Xiuqing said Thursday.

The committee will screen the applications, and expect the process to be complete shortly before the games begin, he said.

“We still keep registration open until the final moments," Sun said.

The Games, which are claimed to be the biggest ever in terms of sporting events, will run between Nov. 12 and Nov. 27, and will feature 42 sports.

Sun said the construction of competition venues for the games had been completed, and now they were undergoing final stages of testing.

Besides arranging registration process, the committee already appointed and authorized more than 4,300 international and domestic technical officials to run and oversee the games.

The committee has also sealed cooperation with the China Anti Doping Agency to conduct doping tests and controls for athletes taking part in the games, to ensure fairness is maintained.

Meanwhile, the same committee will also run Asian Para Games between Dec. 12 and Dec. 19. More than 2,200 people living with disabilities, from 39 countries, are expected to take part.